S E I D E R H O U S E

Village Life, Farm Updates and Playing The Tourist

2009-02-20T08:07:00.004+11:00

Well folks I've reached the midpoint of this journey. 7 weeks gone, 7 weeks to go. I've learned alot, and experienced some quite interesting things. What I've mostly learned is that those of us in the OD (Over-Developed) World aka the First World, have it so easy we should all punch ourselves in the face whenever we whine or complain about anything. I'll be the first one to admit I'd have two black eyes and a broken nose. This entry is a bit lengthy so I've divided it into 3 sections. Village Life, Farm Updates and Playing The Tourist.

Enjoy and thank you for your support.

VILLAGE LIFE:

Now that I've been here for over a month, all the things that were new, crazy, bizarre interesting and depressing are now starting to wear me down. Unfortunately we are still waiting for water and electricity on the farm so we are still walking through the village from the family home. At first it was fine, I wanted to examine everything, observe as much as I could and see what the hell is going on a round here. Well I've realized there are too many things I have no power to change and many others that even if I did would not last.

The most visually disturbing issue is the trash problem in the village. It is so ingrained in the locals mind that it is fine to just throw trash on the ground. There are actual rubbish bins and guys in trucks come by to collect it. Though you start to wonder if they just turn the corner and dump it in the gully. You'd be hard pressed to know the difference. You start to wonder, why am I carrying this piece of trash waiting for the next rubbish can when i'm surrounded by trash on the ground. And I've almost started laughing out loud after picking up a piece of trash and on the 5 steps to the trash can passed 10 other pieces of trash. You really stat to wonder what the hell the point is. Well I haven't given up yet because I still refuse to just throw something on the ground myself. And lets not pat ourselves on the back too much just because we know how to use a trash can. Our trash might not be right in front of our faces, but collecting it in big trucks and burying it in someone else's backyard doesn't make it any better.

Next is the auditory intrusions. Lets see, we have the 5 daily calls to prayer which blare out of loudspeakers at the mosques. The first one is a half hour before first light, so lets call that 4:45 am, then the two other calls before the actual first prayer starts. I think the closest thing to this I've ever experienced is church bells. But If church bells were going off at 5 am every day I'm pretty sure church bells would be getting blown up. Oh and there are at least a half dozen different calls to prayer from different mosques you can hear at any point in the village. There are probably over 20 total. There is the chorus of gunfire, Jordanians apparently love their guns and firing them into the air at all hours. The kids makeshift fireworks made out of a piece of pipe, bug spray can, banana ripening chemical, water and a lighter. I'm still not fully sure how it works but they cut the top off the bug spray can, shove it into the piece of pipe, poke a hole in the can mix water and the banana chemical in the can and then light what comes out of the little hole and it makes a big explosion noise not unlike a gunshot. At first i thought they were just exploding aerosol cans, but then i realized they couldn't afford to buy that many cans of bug spray. Then i thought they were igniting the gas from the bug spray similar to a potato gun. Then I saw one of the devices and noticed the hole in the bottom of the can and that the can had no top. Then my friend told me they ignite this chemical used to ripen bananas. Whatever the case its fucking annoying. Add to this the cacophony of screaming kids and its enough to drive you mad.

So needless to say I have had to resort to a sort of selective sensory ignorance. I've taken to listening to my ipod during my commute to and from the farm. This is something I never like to do because I like to hear what is going on around me, but in this case I relish the opportunity to turn off one of my senses. Other then the trash and the sound abuse, the leaking water pipes everywhere is disturbing, especially in a country that is so water poor. The leaks are obvious even when the water is off because they will be the only spots with something growing. I suppose if they planted fruit trees near all the leaks it would be a positive.

Oh and did I mention the cats. Apparently there is a story or section of the Quran where the prophet Muhammad was nice to cats. So cats run rampant. No one wants to be mean to the cats. They come right into the house like they are pets but these are feral cats. After a few weeks of me throwing rocks at them, er near them, they take off when they see me pick up a rock. So cats have free rain. They'll beat their donkeys, which they use for their livelihoods but kick a cat and you get in trouble. Doesn't make a lot of sense from my perspective.

I realize this all comes off as overly negative and it is at the moment. I could have painted a rosier picture projecting into the future of what my ultimate evaluation will be, but it feels better almost therapeutic to just be brutally honest at the moment, good, bad or indifferent. Thankfully the farm is in an area less densely populated and the work on the farm is relaxing in comparison. I do have complete faith that when I return home, I'll look back on these experiences and they will seem comical and interesting again and I'll be glad to have had the opportunity to test my patience, perspective and comfort level. But not right now.

FARM UPDATES:

Still waiting on the donations that came in to be transferred to the bank account in Jordan so no major developments on the farm. I have mostly been troubleshooting the irrigation, installing some water harvesting earthworks and fine tuning things as much as possible. I devised a solution to the problem of checking the drippers that irrigate the trees. We use mulch around the trees to retain moisture and eventually build soil. So to be effective the drippers are placed underneath the mulch. Well running around digging through mulch to check the irrigation on the 100 or so trees gets old fast. I wrote a field research article for the permaculture website you can read if you are interested. My solution also makes use of one of the lovely items of trash decorating the landscape.

Click Here for article.

PLAYING THE TOURIST:

I was able to take a few days off and explore Jordan. Muhammad, Wade, Tael and myself went on a trip down south to see Aqaba, Wadi Rum and Petra. We drove to Aqaba first. A resort city on the red sea. It wasn't as nice as I was thinking but still a good break from the from and the village. Plus having a swim felt pretty damn good. We arrived at night and the next day walked around a bit then got some fresh fish and lamb for a BBQ on the beach. Then just before sunset we were off to Wadi Rum

Wadi Rum is a crazy desert filled with wind sculpted rock formations. They filmed a lot of Lawrence of Arabia here. I guess I better see that damn movie now. After getting lost we arrived around 10 pm and after some food and tea went to our tents to sleep. It was bloody freezing and the three blankets I had just barely cut it. The next morning we hired a guide to drive us around the desert. We originally were going to take a camel tour but were informed there are too many things too see and given our short window of time a 4 x 4 was a better option. i was excited about the camel ride but hey our driver was a Bedouin so who cares if we traded Camel for Toyota. Apparently when it is warmer here it is quite a scene. There were only two other people at the camp when we arrived.

After tearing around the desert and scampering up some sweet rock formations we were off to Petra

We arrived here at 3:30pm and after parking and buying our tickets we finally entered the park at 4pm, We basically had and hour and a half of daylight to explore what you should minimally give yourself half a day. Oh well what are you going to do. Otherwise we would have had to stay overnight and I was just ready to be done with the trip for other reasons we need not discuss here.

Anyway we just started walking and none of us even had any idea where we going or how long it takes to get there. since it was late in the day we were the only people walking in our direction, everyone else was on there way out. Once we entered the Siq, the narrow gorge that brings you to the city the anticipation was getting high. Then we came around a bend and you could see this massive faced peaking through. then when you walk into the open you realize how massive it is and then you realize this was carved by hand a few thousand years ago. But no time to reflect times a wasting so after a few photos we were off. Luckily someone was kid enough to litter a brochure on the ground for me to pick up and see what the layout was. Well we were not even half way though. So we can either call it a day and walk back or keep going. well I was determined to get to the end for some reason. Probably because I realized I'm most likely not coming back so I want to see the end. And what is the end, after about 800 steps up a mountain you get to the Monastery the last site in the park. And that was running 800 steps. Muhammad was with me and did damn well for someone who smokes like 2 packs a day. Although I'm pretty sure he wanted to throw me off the cliff when we got to the top. He said we ran up all those steps for this? Taban lak. (fuck you) I think the grandeur gets lost wen you think your lungs are going to explode.

I don't recommend trying to see all of Petra in an hour and a half. Or running up 800 stairs that are thousands of years old. But I did, so there.

All in all an interesting trip but now i need a vacation from my vacation.

until next time.

for photos click here

Reality Check...one two, one two

2009-01-21T03:13:00.008+11:00

If you were to get up and walk to the sink and turn on the faucet, there is a pretty damn good chance that water will come out. And if it didn't you'd be surprised to say the least, more likely pissed off and annoyed at the inconvenience. You'd then wonder who is to blame for this unacceptable turn of events. I mean it is your god given right as a human being to expect water to come out of the tap when you need it....right?

Well.....Salaam Alaykum. Welcome to Jordan.

It doesn't work like that here.

Not where I am anyway, sitting in a former Palestinian Refugee camp 400 meters below sea level. In the Jordan Valley, the lowest place on earth. Yep that's right the ocean is 400 meters above my head. I'm currently working on the Jordan Valley Permaculture Project started by Geoff and Nadia Lawton. The intention of the project is to create a Permaculture demonstration site/education center that will enable local residents to replicate the techniques in their homes and add a layer of security that no arsenal of modern weaponry can touch.

The city water turns on maybe twice a week. So everyone has tanks on the roof they fill when it does. And if you run out then you either buy in a truckload or do without. Yeah do without in an area with average yearly rainfall of 200 mm, and temperatures in the summer of 50 degrees celsius (122 Fahrenheit) lets see the residents of Los Angeles or New York City deal with that.

I've been here for 3 weeks now and perspective shift is an extreme understatement. It is quite literally another world here. Just like southeast asia is another world, the middle east is another world. Another culture, another language, another way of life. There are different ways one must conduct themselves, especially when it comes to male and female interactions. You can save your women's lib comments, the women here don't want to hear it. On the outside it seems that the women are repressed and forced to cover up. In reality its all done for their protection, the covering from head to toe is actually for the men's benefit. As they say, a man cannot resist looking at a pretty women so the women cover up to save the men bad credit. Oh and a respectful man would never approach a strange woman, you get one look for free and thats it, if she wants to approach you then you can talk to her. Basically to be safe you spend a lot of time staring at the ground.

Its a far cry from the demonized portrayal we get on the local news back in the states and in most of the western world. Speaking of which a prime example is the War on Gaza. I can only imagine the tired attempt at reporting the news stations back home are doing. Watching the news here you get a bit of a different story. First off on the BBC they say 1000 Palestinians DIED, and 13 Israelis KILLED. on Aljazeera they say 1000 Palestinians KILLED, 13 Israelis KILLED. So what does the BBC think those thousand Palestinians died of? Cancer?!

On the news you hear "Israel is not targeting civilians". On the news, I see Schools and UN buildings, yes thats right United Nations Buildings used as safe houses for women and children destroyed by Israeli air-strikes.

We could go on all day, but sitting here eating dinner, made to feel like part of the family, watching these atrocities on the tv and thinking, jesus christ, this house, these people, these smiling kids are the same ones losing limbs, losing family members, losing any hope at a dignified existence.

So this project here in Jordan, whose population is one half displaced Palestinian refugees, is a real, practical, on the ground attempt at basic human security. Clean water, healthy food, appropriate energy technology, and proper waste management. Something no political leadership can provide.

And a special note for all those change-aholics ga ga for Obama. I'm glad to have a president that doesn't speak like a moron now, but sorry to burst your bubble, REAL change starts from the bottom up not the top down. That day has long since passed. So if you want to participate in REAL change then please feel free to donate to the project.

click here for a break down of items needed. Its tax deductible, so do something positive with those tax dollars before Uncle Sam gets them. We know what that sponsors.

And if you really want a change then come volunteer on the project. Volunteers needed by end of March. Contact Geoff@permaculture.org.au for details. Permaculture Design Certificate required.

wanna see some pictures now? Ok just one more thing before we go....

Check your over-sanitized anti bacterial everything, toilet paper wiping, isn't it dangerous-what about Al Queda?, bullshit at the door and come along for a ride. I promise its an experience you never knew you needed.

cheers, Masalama

Eric Seider

for pics click here

Re-Entering Civilization.

2008-11-22T12:02:00.003+11:00

Well Its certainly been a while since my last post, I'm sure noone will even read this unless of course they have an automatic alert setup. Anyway, I just visited my own blog today for the first time in months.

Well to recap a bit: I got so far behind on the weekly entries that I just called "no joy" and gave up. I was two weeks behind and then went to Vietnam and China for 2 weeks and that pretty much sealed the deal. An amazing trip and a severe perspective shift for sure. I highly recommend it. At the very least it will make you ashamed to be a westerner after you see what they can accomplish with limited resources.

I ended up extending my stay until the end of july and returning to the good ole US of A. Specifically Lost Angeles. Talk about culture shock. Well I've tried my best to keep my head down and assimilate back into society. But it hasn't worked out that well. I've grown increasingly complacent and disgusted with my own inaction. So I figured its time for more adventure.

Jordan here I come. I figure a salted, nearly dead flat, highly arid environment, 500 feet below sea level, would be just the place to get my Permaculture chops down. And throw in a traditional Islamic culture to boot and now we have something.

Dec 30th I'll be flying out to work on the Demonstration Site/Education Center Geoff and Nadia have started there. It will be quite an experience I'm sure, I'll do my best to add some posts and pics while I am there.

until next time,

Salaam Alaykum (peace be upon you),

eric

--
Eric Seider
Director
The Permaculture Research Institute USA
www.permacultureusa.org

Week 7 -- 03/17-03/24

2008-03-31T00:37:00.003+11:00

Week 7

The on the ground training camp started and a few students from the PDC stayed for that. The excavator was running from day one to put in the new swale. After some surveying the digging bagan with Nadia at the wheel. I got to drive it a few days later. It was pretty weird at first trying to get all the controls sorted. there are like 6 or 7 different ones. here are two for the tracks to make it move. and for for the bucket and arm. and everything is counter intuitive forward is backward backward is up. But after a little bit I started to get the hang of it. It was pretty cool and we had a 5 ton machine which is considered small.

Jackie the smaller terrier mix finally earned her keep by spotting two snakes in one day. She just kept barking and Geoff knew what it meant so he rushed over and there was jackie keeping her distance but letting everyone know something dsangerous was around. First was a Brown snake, highly poisonous and the other was a python. Atta girl jackie.

On thursday I went down to sydney for the australian permaculture conference. It was the 30th anniversary of permaculture so it was a pretty huge deal. It was basically like a crash course in permaculture history. Also it was honoring Bill Mollison who was the co-originator of permaculture but single handedly started the whole movement. It was also crazy to see how many people wanted to talk to Geoff and ask him questions and discuss projects. So i was just like a sponge trying to absorb everything. And of course everyone was wondering who this guy with the beard is that is also with Geoff and Nadia. Especially at the celebration dinner on the last night where Nadia had some guy bumped from the table so i could sit with them At Bill's Table with all the other elders of permaculture history. It was a funny one.

Oh and I finally saw my first wallaby, it just hopped right into view as i was staring out the window from our room Alsothe conference was at this scout camp and there was some awesome woods and rock formations nearby. The sandstone gets cut and shaped into some sweet patterns. In the stream there were al these little holes and pockets that the water flowed in and out of.
check out some images Click Here

Week 6 -- 03/10-03/17

2008-03-19T11:02:00.005+11:00

WEEK 6

The second week of the PDC finished and I think the students all seemed to feel better about Geoff not being there for the first week. I started planting some seedlings in the garden. Started off with some lettuces, beet root, and some other green that I forget the name of. I also started to revive the herb spiral. An herb spiral is a mound of soil with a spiral of rocks decendning from the top and with a little pond or container of water at the bottom. The idea is to have the herbs that like drier soil on top and then proceed to the ones which like moist soil on the bottom near the pond. Its about 1 meter square in size. Anyway the one in the garden was overgrown with weeds so it needed some help and some new seedlings. So I planted in some rosemary, Thyme and some Sage.

We had a surplus of ducks so being that the third ethic of permaculture is the return of surplus to the system we decided to return some of the duck surplus to the bellies of the students. we killed 3 ducks, Geoff killed two and i asked to kill one.

Here is a video of Geoff talking about how to properly kill the duck and then me killing the duck. Or as the Apache would say, here is brother duck sacrificing itself so we can live.

continued

I got to kill the third duck so I had to hold it and keep its eyes closed and keep it calm while the first two ducks were killed. It was pretty intense holding an animal and both of you knowing it is going to die. I tried to give as much thanksgiving and respect as possible during the whole process. We cooked up the duck for dinner that night. Its quite another experience eating meat from an animal you killed yourself. It just remined me of how disconnected we all are from our food source.

The excavator arrived for the next two weeks training camp. A course where students get real experience doing the stuff they just learned in the classroom last week. They will be using the excavator to dig a swale. And whatever else you might need a giant hydrolic powered shovel for.

Geoff and Nadia are going to Vietnam april 1st and they asked me if i wanted to go with them, I would just need to pay for my airfare. So I said of course, it will be an awesome opportunity to see a part of Vietnam that most people will never get to see. They set up a sister School in Vietnam to train Teachers who would then go out around Asia and teach others. So I had to send in a Visa application with a photo. The first photo i took I had a camouflage shirt on and i looked like a mercenary. so i quickly changed into a button up and tried to look as harmless as possible.

check out some images Click Here

Week 5 -- 03/03-03/10

2008-03-10T14:05:00.004+11:00

Week 5

Well the PDC was in full swing which meant there were an extra 12 people on the farm. An interesting change and I enjoyed that the students get to do the clean up, but I frequently found myself looking for a quiet spot. On 66 acres thats not really an issue thankfully. Geoff was still away as he had to go to New Zealand to help teach a PDC because his friend died who was supposed to teach it. The students weren't particularly happy to not half geoff for the first week but they seemed to understand the unexpected situation. Anyway Geoff's sin Daniel cam down to help teach. He's basically been doing permaculture since he was a baby. So between Daniel, Nadia (geoffs wife) and Justin from down the road. They had it pretty well covered.

I talked with Nadia about what project I wanted to do for my internship so after discussing it I decided to do a bed in the kitchen garden and a small pond above the asian garden. So it felt good to have something to focus on and I can just concentrate on that for the next two months. The kitchen garden is a good thing to start with because that is where the majority of the food should come from. Also the knowledge gained will be easily transferable to a garden somewhere else.

We had two ducks sitting on eggs very close to hatching time. The ducks we have are muscovy ducks, which is like a cross between a duck and a goose. Anyway one of the momma duck's eggs hatched and we quickly had 16 extra ducks on the farm. They are funny little things, little fuzzy balls of feathers running around.

quack quack

So now we had one duck on eggs when another one decided to sit on eggs, but instead of using any of the duck houses we set up she decided to lay her nest in the pumpkin patch. Nice one. So we had to put a duck house over her to protect her while she sits on the eggs.

Sink and I got some seeds together to plant in the kitchen garden. We had to select crops for the winter. Mostly onions, cabbages, and root crops.

Sunday was market day. And They decided to have a booth at the market to Talk about permaculture, the school, and the plans for the new buildings which need to get council approval. Which means you have to make nice with the locals before they let you build anything. But building community is one of the main priorities in permaculture. It's a lot easier to get your area on point environmentally if the community is involved. Also it a clever way to get agendas through if you have yourself or friends in positions of power. Hey its what the scumbags do that ruin everything in the first place. So why not make it easy for ourselves.

The drum circle was in full swing and before it went off there was a sweet little jam session with 2 drummers and a violinist.

check out some images Click Here

Week 4 -- 02/25-03/03

2008-03-04T12:13:00.005+11:00

Week 4

Most of this week I concentrated on researching the tree species we planted in the Beehive Swale last week. Its weird doing "school work" again. Noting basic characteristics, and then trying to determine which animal species frequent which trees and what other species of plants either support or interfere with the trees growth. Also the effect the trees will have on that area in the future for soil rehabilitation and moisture increase. As well as the swale construction and how that increases the productivity of the area, and also encouraging volunteer trees to grow and thus attracting more animals and more diversity as a result.

Oh we also got word from Geoff and Nadia from Cuba. Apparently the documentary I mentioned before was very misleading. There are in fact not many gardens in people's yards and all the organic food they produce is exported to other countries. They then import lower quality food for themselves. No one is allowed internet in there homes only email. But almost everyone has a job, salary and the ability to go to school. Its a weird one for sure. And when Castro stepped down the international news made it out to be a huge ordeal with chaos and excitement. That was not the case as most Cubans didn't really care and din't see that there would be much change with Castro's brother in power. Amazing how distorted the news is.

With Geoff away things became very disorganized on the farm and stress and aggravation started building with some of the staff. Without a proper workload distribution the work was less efficient and thus harder and so it tired everyone out more. As a result The people Geoff left to help the interns while he was gone were not able to do this and it became frustrating for us as we felt we were not getting what we came for. This all exploded on saturday when Nadia came back. Two of the staff members ended up leaving, so now there are only 2. And Ryan, one of the interns decided to leave and go stay at another farm down the street. I think he just needed a different experience. And Yuta the intern from japan leaves in a few days so it will be a skeleton crew. on top of all this the PDC (Permaculture Design Certificate) course started on sunday. Its the same class I took last june in northern california. Its a two week course. So there is about 12 students to teach and cater for. So needless to say it will be an interesting week. On another note with the other two interns gone I will be able to focus more on learning which will be good. I need to decide on a project to do and then i can just focus on that for the remaining two months.

On a brighter note we did kill two ducks on thurday for dinner. We have two ducks both sitting on a clutch of eggs so in the next week or so we should have about 14 little ducklings running around. Needless to say it was time to thin out the flock. Geoff and his wife are muslim so all meat eaten on the farm needs to be either Halal or Kosher. They are pretty much the same thing, Halal is the muslim way of killing animals respectfully and Kosher is the Jewish way.

This is video of Tom killing the duck in the halal way.

Tom picked up his new homer..er bus. A fully functioning bus for $1000. not to bad.

And on Friday we went into Lismore, the nearest little city, for some roller skatin. for real.
It was pretty much all little kids, and the us the farm people. Roller skates are really weird. good for dancing and having fun but are no match for rollerblades for speed and agility.

In a game of tag rollerskates suck

Oh and on the way home we got pulled over because stupid ryan parked on the wrong side of the road then didn't use his turn signal. and because I was in the back of the van with no seat we both got a $240 dollar ticket. Australian cops suck. He got one cause he was driving and I got one for being in the back. I thought american cops were assholes. but considering I only had a california drivers license on me for ID I'm not too concerned about having to pay it. How stupid. oh and they made me get out and we had to call someone at the farm to come pick us up.

check out some images Click Here

Week 3 -- 02/18-02/24

2008-02-20T14:28:00.005+11:00

Week 3

On monday we planted trees in the lower swale (a water harvesting ditch on contour, or level so the water soaks into the ground slowly) before the creek called the beehive swale. When we got down there everyone noticed that in the bottom of the swale Native silky oaks were already growing. Which is a very good thing. One even started growing right next to a stake that was placed for a tree to be planted. Mother nature helping out.

On Tuesday we gathered sweet potato and lemon grass for the olive branch. Another swale with a few Olive trees. We collected old cardboard and newspaper to lay down for weed suppression. then planted the sweet potato and lemon grass into the paper. and then layed straw and bamboo leaves on top. This adds nutrients to the soil and discourages weed growth.

On Wednesday after brekky we all discussed a new system for morning chores. everyone felt with the current system we were cooking and cleaning too often. So we cahnged from two teams to 3 teams and simplified the duties so everyone had more time away from cooking. We'll see how it goes. Then Dan talked to Ryan and I about the internship, how it was going and we all agreed that everyone has been so busy because we are a bit under staffed that we haven't really gotten into a more structured mentoring. So Dan gave us a report to do based on the tress we planted in the lower swale. we need to reasearch the trees, describe their cultural notes and basically explain why they were chosen and what effects one can expect.

Thursday was the start of new system. We did some maintenance in the main crop. Cutting back cow pea in the basil beds. the cow pea is planted when the beds are cleared for weeds suppression. It grows really fast so you need to keep cutting it back until the veggies or herbs are taller then it and then it won't affect them anymore. We also cut back the flowers on the basil to keep it from seeding and to allow the basil to continue to produce. First sunny day with blue skies in a few days. Its nice but hot as hell in the sun. Good for the solar panels. The Currently the only source of power is the solar panels and a petrol generator. They definitely need another system to generate power, to take the load off the solar panels and as a back up when it is cloudy. wind, hydro are all possibilities. I think a combination of multiple systems is a better approach then looking for one magical system.

Friday- Bob Jones came down from the catchment management office to Tour the farm and talk about applying for funding to do restoration work on the creek edge that borders the bottom of the farm. Most of the funding is so people can buy the trees to plant but they already have the trees growing in the nursery and prefer to grow them instead of buy them anyway. The guy seemed real impressed with Dan, who basically runs the nursery and in the swale above the creek where we planted trees earlier in the week there were Silk Oaks a native tree already sprouting by itself. One even sprouted right near a stake Dan layed out earlier where he was going to plant a tree. Needless to say the guy was psyched on that.
It was hot like 87ºF. so after taking the tour with the guy it was time to swim in the pond.

Saturday was even hotter it got up to 95ºF too hot to do anything outside.
lots of swimming in the pond

On sunday Tom, Ryan, Sink and I headed to Yamba a little south east on the coast for some surfing and fishing. It was sweet, really nice tan powdery sand and barely anyone there. The waves were actually a bit big for the longboard we brought. And after the center fin came out after Tom went out it was pretty much worthless. So I just went swimming instead. Warm water probably like 75 80 degrees. Next time I'll have to rent a shortboard. We also did some fishing off the rocks but we didn't catch anything. everyone around seemed to do ok. One guy came over to borrow a knife because the fish he caught bit his buddy's finger and wouldn't let go. Ouch.

Oh and tidal pools on the rocks were really cool.

Sea Anemone tentacles feel like sticky sandpaper

check out some images Click Here

Week 2 -- 02/11-02/17

2008-02-18T15:54:00.013+11:00

Week 2

On Monday Geoff had to show a property to some potential buyers so we all went along for a tour. The property is Tagari farm, its about an hour drive north west. Tagari was started by Bill Mollison (the founder of permaculture) and then taken over by Geoff when Bill Moved back to Tasmania. It was closed down because the county demanded tghey put in paved roads because of the amount of people visiting and working on the site. They refused and instead abandoned the property. Geoff said at one point they had laeft for 18 months and it took 6 months to get the property under control. We were visiting it after 7 years of no one being on the property. I had no idea what to expect. The overgrowth was insane. the grasses and reeds were all head high. Some one of the bigger ponds (called dams) actually turned into a marsh. The edges had so much decomposition covering them that you could walk on it and it was like walking on a water bed.

With Dan leading the way with his trusty machete we managed to make it around the property. The goal was to get to the mango trees for feast but unfortunately because there had been so much rain there were barely any trees with fruit on and they were not even ripe yet. The mangoes grow out of a flower on the tree and if it rains too much when the flowers bloom then they get knocked off the tree and you get no mangoes.

Visiting the buildings was pretty creepy, it was a bit like a ghost town. And all the vegetation was just creeping its way inside. The bamboo forest was insane it was almost dark under the canopy because all the clumps had grown together. There were some growing sideways searching for a patch of sunlight.

The property is amazing but in need of some serious work to get it under control. When we got back and Geoff showed us the before pictures it was hard to even make the connection to what we saw at the farm because the overgrowth was so extensive.

On Tuesday Geoff and Nadia (his wife) left for 2 weeks to Cuba to do a water harvesting project. When the Cold war ended and The Soviet Union shut off the gas supply to Cuba they were in a world of trouble. At that time they used more petroleum based fertilizers then the US. So some people involved in permaculture showed up and started training the locals, and they basically turned every spare plot into a garden. They are now one of the leading producers of organic food in the world. There is a great video about this story called "The Power Of Community -- How Cuba Survived Peak Oil". I highly recommend it. It is a very possible reality for the US to face. After all, there are only so many oil producing countries left we can invade.

enways moving on.

After a few days straight of rain it starts to wear you thin so I decided to stay inside and make a case for my camera from some leather I brought with me. The leather was thin enough so i was able to use a regular sewing needle. usually you need to use a glovers needle, its a much thicker needle with an angled tip to push through the hide. It came out nice, not bad for my first time eh?

There were a bunch of Silky Oak Trees that needed to be put in individual pots so Ryan and I did that for half a day. A good tip for potting sedlings. Don't just fill the pot with soil and make a hole with your finger and shove the plant in. The soil will be too compacted for drainage and there is a good chance the root will shoot up to the top looking for drainage. Instead hold the seedling by the stem where you want the soil to come to and pout the soil in alternating sides to get an even fill and shake it down to compact it slightly.

Sunday Tom and I decided to ride bikes up to Protesters falls. About 15 kilometers up the road. And I mean literally UP the road. Anyway supposedly protesters falls was one of the first sites where people protested the logging of rainforest trees. I never think of Australia as having rainforests but there it was, an old growth rainforest. The change from the foliage on the way up and once we entered the park was crazy. It felt like we entered Jurassic park or something. We walked about halfway and it seemed like the trail stopped at this piddly little trickle of whitewater. And we both looked at each other and said is this it? Then I discovered where the path continued and when we were getting close you could see the falls through the trees and it. Was it worth the trip?

You Decide.

So as i was scramblin around to get some photos i looked down and saw something on my ankle. i though it was just a leaf but i couldn't seem to get it off. Then I realized it was a leech and i tried pulling it off but the damn thing is so slippery my fingers keep sliding off and not to mention it has like a death grip on my skin. So I yell to Tom and he says all nonchalantly "just use a lighter mate".

How to remove a leech with a lighter:

And no trip to the rainforest is complete without a python sighting. It scared the hell out me as were were walking out and i looked up and there was this 5 foot long python halfway across the path. But it seemed to be content to just keep on its path so after a little documentation we left it alone and continued on our way, thankful for such an encounter.

Untill next week folks.

check out some images Click Here

Week 1 -- 02/04-02/10

2008-02-05T20:31:00.004+11:00

Week 1

So here is a little rundown of the daily routine. There are two groups A and B made up of staff members and interns. Each with different tasks for the morning. There are currently 3 interns and 5 staff here at the moment. I am actually only the third intern they've had. I thought the program was going for longer but they actually just started the intern program around June of 2007. So the first intern Yuta (from Japan) arrived in October. Then Ryan, from the US arrived in November. And myself in February. So needless to say the program is still fairly new and evolving as the time goes on. The farm itself is still in the developing phase as far as infrastructure goes. They have only been on the property for about 3 years, and given Geoff's busy schedule of teaching, consulting, and aid work around the globe somethings have moved slower then everyone would like. That said, it allows for an open ended learning situation because there is so much potential work to be done that there is no shortage of projects to get involved in.

Back to the routine.

one group has animal duty:
Which consists of feeding the cows, horses, ducks and sheep.
Milking the two dairy cows.
And checking all animals for ticks.
They have two types of ticks, one relatively harmless and one is a paralysis tick, which if left on can kill an animal in two days. It basically affects the brain causing the animal to be paralyzed and ultimately it just dies. They have lost a cow and dog to this type of tick already.
Then moving the animals into one of the fields (called paddocks here) to feed for the day. And also bringing the animals in at night.

The other group has garden duty:

Weeding of the two gardens. Milking and feeding the goats, feeding the chickens and collecting eggs.

Wake up around 6:30-7:00am
coffee/tea
either animals or garden duty
9:00am-9:30am breakfast (called brecky)
9:30-12:30pm work on farm projects or help out staff *
12:30pm-1pm lunch
1pm-3pm Intern research time. Basically 2 hours free time
3pm-6pm work on farm projects
6:00pm-7:00pm dinner
7:00pm-? free time. most people go to bed by 10pm.

* Basically there is always work that needs to be done and the majority of it will teach you something related to permaculture. There are of course more labor oriented tasks, and being an intern we can choose to help out with these or focus on our own study. But being part of a community I don't have a problem helping out unless there is something I'd rather be doing.

So this week I milked my first cow, and my first goat. It rained pretty much for the first 3 days I was here, then was sunny off and on for like 4 days. Apparently it hasn't rained like this for the past 15 years. Needless to say there is no shortage of water on the property. Some of the rivers and creeks around the town had huge floods. the water level raised nearly 20 feet. You can see the path of destruction in the river valleys, tons of debris stuck on still standing trees and then lots of trees all bent in the direction of the water flow. Some of the bridges even had water flowing over them and they have to be at least 30 feet to the ground.

Needless to say erosion control is a big concern. So one of the first projects I worked on was building a rock and concrete reinforced pipe crossing. The creeks on property have a pipe buried to allow water to flow through without running over the land so you can cross to the other fields (called a pipe crossing) Well on one of the crossings the outlet side was eroding away so to prevent further erosion and in case the water level rose and flowed over the land we built a rock and concrete spillway. We started by digging a trench to direct the water, then used the clay and soil displaced from the trench to fill in the eroded hill. We then placed rocks onto the soil and then poured concrete on top to fill in between the rocks. Basically creating a skin of concrete to lock it all together. You'll get a better idea from the pictures.

I also did some work in the main crop, A large garden designed for production of produce. Mostly pulling out the plants that were grown for mulch and weed suppression. Then picking through the soil for remaining weeds, and placing the pulled plants onto the footpaths in between the garden beds. This accomplishes a few things, mostly reinforcing the edges of the beds and creating mulch which will eventually be added to the beds for fertilizer.

There is also tons of bamboo growing on the property so I decided one of the things I wanted to focus on was Bamboo. So I decided to build some shelves out of bamboo for the nursery area. Between the rain and the other things going on I've only had a few hours to work on it. I have the support posts up and secured and have the first shelf nearly completed. It's quite a bit more work then I anticipated. They have this special tool, similar to an apple slicer for separating the bamboo into flat pieces. It works amazingly well, once started it splits the round bamboo into 4 equal parts.

Saturday is cleanup day where everything gets a "hospital style" clean.

Then Sunday is a day off. Its basically considered a holiday in Australia where most business are closed. Group A and B rotate each week so every other Sunday one group does all the morning duties so one group has the complete day off. There is a town market once a month, like a farmers market on steroids, so the market was going on and we spent the day there. Lost of booths for local arts and crafts and different food vendors and locally produced goods. Its quite an interesting mix of people as it is not uncommon for folks to drive 45 minutes to come to the market. Moslty from the more urbanized coastal cities and towns. Its also quite a bit of a hippy fest culminating in a drum circle at the end of the day. Good times.

So quite a week. It feels like i've been here a month. All good stuff though. I have no doubt I'll learn a ton before my 3 months is up.

Oh and Australia has some crazy creatures. Aside from some of the worlds deadliest snakes, two of which you can find on the farm, The Taipan and Brown Snake. There are no shortage of biting insects. One in particular called the jump ant, is closely related to the wasp and actually stings with its tail. They hurt like hell and the little bastards happen to be quite aggressive. I was following Tom (the farm manger) around the fence line while he used the weed wacker (called the whipper snipper) and i took out what he couldn't with a machete. Although he tried to take out nearly everything. Anyway while attending to a jump ant bite to my foot i was then struck in the face with debris from his whipper snipping.

quite a day indeed.

Oh I nearly forgot. During dinner on my first night on the farm, after nearly 30 hours of traveling. and in the pouring rain. Geoff was kind enough to inform me of the two deadly snakes in the area and waht to do incase of a bite. He says. if you get bit don't panic, try not to move and wrap some cloth around the bite area to restrict the venom from getting into your blood stream. Then wait, We'll come get yeah. Don't worry. But if you get bit in the face or neck well there isn't much we can do.

Good intro huh?

seeyah soon hey (aussie speak)

check out some images Click Here

Sick video of a kid juggling a soccer ball at the market.

Travel Day

2008-02-04T15:03:00.000+11:00

Well after about 30 hours of travel (door to door) I've arrived at the Permaculture Research Institute, in New South Wales, Australia.

7:30pm Feb 01 (PST) I leave the apt in Los Angeles for the airport
9:35 pm boarded the plane
11:00pm plane takes off after a slight delay
12 hours later I land in Fiji. It was raining so I didn't get the best view from the plane. Lots of mountains and super lush and green.And after going through another security line, airports love security lines. I bordered another plane to Brisbane, Australia.
2:00pm (PST) 3.5 hours later I land in Brisbane at 10:30 am Feb 03 local time
Catch a train to the bus station, then Catch a bus down south about 90 miles.
Arrive at Lismore at 7:40 pm (local time) 12:40 am PST FEB 02.
Get Picked up by Tom the farm manager for a half hour ride to the school.

Oh and it was downpouring the whole ride down from brisbane. Some serious flooding. Lots of soccer and rugby fields looked like lakes. We drove down the coast so I got to see the beach in a few different spots.

All in All it was a pretty ridiculous little start to my adventure. Oh and just a side note. Sometimes the less you know about where you are heading the more likely you are to get there. more about that later.

cheers,

Eric

check out some images Click Here